The Future of Learning Benchmark Study 2007
Contents Foreword | 03 Methodology | 05 Employee Engagement | 06 Quality, Value and Impact | 09 The Critical Role of Managers | 12 Employee Productivity | 13 Focusing on the Learner | 14 The Trend Towards Autonomy | 15 The Future Vision | 16 Conclusion | 18
SkillSoft Benchmark Study – The Future of Learning | 03
Foreword Towards the end of 2006, SkillSoft commissioned
organisations in line with how employees want to
“The future will all be about
two separate surveys; one amongst senior level
learn in the years ahead; or is there a disconnect in
just-in-time training, training
executives in the corporate HR community and one
expectations?
that people can take out in the field, at home or
with over 5,000 people, all of whom were in full time employment, ranging from junior positions to
Some of the results were surprising; and some were
wherever they happen to be. So,
managers and director level employees.
what we expected. There are many areas where the
increasingly, I think what’s happening is
learning and development community has much to be
that we’re turning to things like e-learning
Our aim was to compare and contrast the employees’
proud of. Indeed, in many of the organisations we
and bite-sized learning.“
view of training and development with that of
surveyed, there are some outstanding programmes in
employers. Specifically, we were looking for whether
place that are making a significant and positive
there were any synergies between what the employees
difference to the skills and knowledge of the
wanted to learn, and the way in which they wanted to
workforce, which in turn is having a positive and
Many companies have taken the conscious decision
develop their skills, with the training made available to
tangible impact on the effectiveness of those
to give their employees considerable autonomy to
them by their organisations. Are employers out of step
organisations as a whole. In many of the organisations
develop their skills and have made a wide range of
with the training they provide? Or are the learning
involved in this research there are robust competency
training available across their organisations. Line
needs of employees being fully met? We were also
frameworks in place to ensure their employees develop
managers still have a role to play in approving the
interested to see how the impact of technology was
in line with the needs of their business. Interestingly
training taken but in many organisations, particularly
changing the way organisations were delivering their
though, there is little consistency in the nature of these
those with e-learning, the depth and breadth of the
training and the extent to which this technology was
frameworks. They range from those that are
training done is at the employee’s discretion. As a
being embraced by the employees. Finally, we wanted
comparatively simple to those that are highly complex.
result, the competence and skills base of the
to look to the future and establish how closely the
However, regardless of the type of structure they have,
organisation continues to expand and those we
vision of the HR community matched that of the
in each case they seem to be working effectively for
interviewed said the gain to their business was evident
employees; are the provisions being made by
the organisations that use them.
in many ways.
Charles Abbott, BDO Stoy Hayward
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“So, the future: we are seeing
organisations understand the value that this type of
out tasks relating to management and leadership tasks
a number of interesting
learning brings. In fact, many of the organisations that
without adequate training.
trends starting to happen.
participated in this study are making a concerted effort
Informal learning is becoming
to support informal learning to exploit the benefit that
more and more apparent. The fact that
it produces. In addition, there is evidence from the
probably 70% to 80% of what people
quantitative survey that companies are actively
learn is actually on the job rather than
promoting the sharing of information amongst their
formal training. So, somewhere along the
staff and encouraging employees to pass on their
line, we need to be thinking to the future
knowledge and expertise to their peers. A large
and structure this learning and make it
majority (73%) of the employees who participated in
work a bit more.“
the research said that they were actively encouraged to share their skills and experiences with others.
Ian Shaw, Nestlé Purina
particularly in areas like sales, customer service and IT, as well as improvements in retention rates and in some cases, a higher level of personal job satisfaction or an increase in satisfaction with the skills of managers and other leaders.
employees were remarkably similar. There was a wide expectation that the way in which people learned would evolve, with mobile learning taking a greater share of the training mix. Learning via laptops and PDA’s will increase, and blogs, wikis and podcasts are all predicted to grow as learning tools. Not surprisingly, the employer group also talked about blended learning and how they anticipate it will grow in sophistication, becoming increasingly tailored to
Yet, in other areas, we noticed that the same challenges There was evidence of increased productivity,
Looking to the future, the views of employers and
we have seen in previous studies have yet to be resolved. The issue of time once again raised its head: 40% of those surveyed said they didn’t have time to do the training they needed. And perhaps because of this, there were a number of instances where employees had been asked to take on roles they felt they hadn’t had enough training for. IT and desktop tasks fared the
The results also indicated that the trend towards
worse, followed by customer service activities. And a
informal learning will continue as more and more
number of employees said they had been asked to carry
meet their employees’ needs. However, arguably the most gratifying finding from the research, cited by both employees and employers alike, is the acknowledgement that training is critical to the corporate capability of an organisation. There was widespread belief that having a corporate learning culture was one of the best ways an organisation could grow and thrive. Kevin Young
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Methodology Two separate but complementary surveys were carried
Job functions (figure 1)
out simultaneously. Engineering
4.3 %
Finance
11.0 %
Human Resources
5.2 %
IT
13.5 %
Manufacturing
2.8 %
Medicine
6.6 %
Operations
12.2 %
Teaching/Education
10.4 %
Customer Service
21.7 %
Sales and Marketing
12.3 %
The first survey was a qualitative study, consisting of in-depth, face-to-face interviews with senior HR executives in large organisations who were responsible for all, or a significant part, of the training strategy and delivery for their respective companies. The organisations were from a cross section of industry sectors, all with either a global or European remit. 16 organisations were interviewed as part of this study and included: Atos Origin, BDO Stoy Hayward, DHL, GSK, HBOS, ING Direct, LloydsTSB, Nestle, PAREXEL, Pilkington Group, Reuters, Royal Bank of Scotland, SITA, TDK, T-Mobile, and Virgin Atlantic. The second survey was a quantitative study consisting of a web-based survey, open to anyone who was in full time employment. Over 5,360 people participated and almost all industry sectors were represented, as was most of the public sector. The majority of job
6% of the sample were at director level; 25% were
compared and contrasted to assess the similarities and
managers; and the remainder were junior employees.
differences between them.
Both male and female employees of all age groups from 18 upwards were well represented.
functions were covered (see figure 1) and those
The web-based study took place during late September and early October 2006. The in-depth
participating ranged from junior level through to
The employer group and the employee group were
interviews were carried out between September and
senior level employees.
asked similar questions and their answers were
November 2006.
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The Results they can, and then successfully manage the increasing
implemented a large scale web-based survey with
complexity that this involves. In spite of the difficulties
over 5,000 people, all of whom were working full time
In order to understand what might happen to training
this entails, many seem to be managing this with
in a wide range of organisations, primarily based in
in the future, we began by trying to establish a
considerable skill, with evidence that the right
the UK. Firstly, we asked them if their organisation had
baseline of the existing custom and practice prevalent
training is getting through to the right people at the
a training programme in place and if so, what level of
in the learning arena at the moment. As a starting
right time.
involvement they had in it.
Equipped with the insight gained from the HR
Encouragingly, the majority of employees (67.6%)
professionals we had interviewed, we then
were able to say that there was a comprehensive
Employee engagement
point we wanted to determine what the HR community was focusing on and the extent to which they felt their training initiatives were making a positive impact on their organisation. We also wanted to assess whether those who worked in organisations used the training available to them (if indeed there was training available) and what their views of it were. In this research, the HR professionals who participated were all from large, pan-European or global organisations across a number of industry sectors. As a result, their areas of focus were widespread and often company specific. However, in a number of areas there was some commonality of purpose. Most noticeable in this regard was the fact that many are striving to take a holistic view of the learning needs of their organisation, incorporate all the delivery methods
“ The complexity can be a nightmare and that’s one of our challenges. But we are getting to grips with it in a number of different ways. We are trying to achieve greater consistency across our programmes whilst creating greater simplicity for our population of employees. The key thing to ensure when you have such a high degree of complexity is that the right training gets through to the right people at the right time.” Andrew Wright, GSK
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“We had a big HR open day
Percentage of employees who feel actively involved in their organisation’s training programme (figure 2)
recently which showcased everything we have available. It was like a big open market place where people just toured around all the different things. This really helped understanding and it’s been really important to just re-energise the workforce every six months or so.” Rhian Langham, ING Direct
Sales and/or Marketing – Junior role
44.7 %
Sales and/or Marketing – Management role
62.9 %
Operations – Junior role
45.2 %
Operations – Management role
59.0 %
Manufacturing and/or Production – Junior role
42.3 %
Manufacturing and/or Production – Management role
61.5 %
IT – Junior role
34.0 %
IT – Management role
38.6 %
Human Resources – Junior role
55.5 %
Human Resources – Management role
70.5 %
Finance – Junior role
38.2 %
Finance – Management role
52.0 %
Engineering/Technical – Junior role
37.7 %
Engineering/Technical – Management role
61.5 %
Customer Service – Junior role
37.2 %
Customer Service – Management role
61.2 %
training programme in their company. However, over half of those (52.9%) said that they didn’t feel actively involved in this programme. As expected, this differed noticeably by job function. Predictably, those in HR management are the most engaged, with 70.5% saying they feel actively involved. However, this level of engagement doesn’t occur amongst those in junior HR roles. This group are almost evenly split with 55.5% saying they feel engaged but the remainder saying that they don’t (see figure 2).
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“Short one and two hour sessions are hugely popular. But they don’t just
employees in key areas like customer service,
happen though. They are very well publicised, with a whole communications
engineering, and more critically, IT.
package built around them. They are well promoted and are pushed through the organisation using intranet, messenger and email. Line managers are involved too – telling people how they can benefit from doing the learning.”
Or it may be that those responsible for engaging employees in training and development initiatives need to improve the way these initiatives are communicated and delivered. Best practice would
Jeanette McMullen, T-Mobile
suggest that the internal marketing of training Interestingly, this was a pattern repeated across
training on offer, with 61.4% of IT managers and
various job disciplines, i.e. the management level
65.2% of their staff saying that they are not actively
consistently feels more involved in their organisations’
involved in their organisations’ skills development
training programme than those at a junior level. The
programme.
biggest differences were amongst those working in customer service and engineering. In both cases the managers were significantly more engaged (61.3% and 61.5% respectively) than those who worked for them. Of the junior customer service employees, only 37.2% feel involved and in engineering the figure is not dissimilar (37.8%)
initiatives is not only taken seriously, but actively
Obviously, if an employee doesn’t feel actively involved in a programme they are unlikely to get the best from it. Once this happens, it runs the risk of becoming a wasted resource, its value is diminished and all too often the budget then gets directed elsewhere. It may be, however, that these findings reflect a trend in some organisations to concentrate on developing
The one area where this differs is amongst IT
only their managers and above. If this is the case,
professionals. In this group both the managers and
then these organisations should consider the
the junior levels feel equally disengaged from the
potential risks they face in having poorly trained
“We currently deliver training using live meeting, webcasts and blogs for the sales force in particular… whatever best fits the need.” Chris Hutton, SITA
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pursued. Yet, proactive marketing of training is not usually the norm. However, as this study shows, when it is done, and done well, the results can be quite remarkable. For example, at ING Direct, frequent publicity sessions ensure that not only are employees made more aware
“Ideally, whenever and wherever people want to learn, there should be an available
of the training available to them, but in terms of
option for them so they can use their time effectively – via their mobile phone, PDA or
e-learning, they are more likely to make use of it.
another platform. It should be true any time, any place learning.”
And, at T-Mobile, the HR team have developed a communications package around some of their
Colin Dibben, LloydsTSB
training programmes to ensure that the take up by staff is high.
Quality, value and impact Predictably, in the current learning environment, instructor-led training in a classroom is still the way
learn with just over half of the employees (56.9%)
As expected, e-learning is least prevalent in the
saying that they had learned something from asking a
manufacturing sector amongst junior roles, with only
colleague recently. e-learning is making its presence
34.6% having taken on-line training. Unexpectedly
felt too, though, with 42.4% of employees saying they
though, amongst junior employees in sales and
were actively using it, and 60.3% saying they had
marketing, this figure is only slightly higher with just
some form of training available via their desktop.
35.9% saying they have had exposure to e-learning. In both these instances, the way individuals are most
that most employees are likely to do their learning.
Inevitably, use of e-learning is highest amongst the
59.5% of employees in the survey said that they had
most techno-savvy groups, with IT managers taking
spent some time in a classroom developing their skills
the lead, followed by managers in operations. Over
In terms of the quality of the training on offer,
in the previous six months. Not surprisingly, asking a
half of the employees in these groups (59.1% and
employees were divided in their opinions as to how
colleague is still viewed as one of the best ways to
57.3% respectively) are doing training on-line.
effective it was. Almost half (46.6%) rated the training
likely to learn is by asking a colleague.
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they had received as either ‘brilliant’ or ‘good’.
This would suggest that there is a tranche of training
it was surprising to find that over half of those
However, just under one third (30.6%) rated their
being delivered that is not meeting the needs of the
surveyed (51.3%) said that their perception was that
training as ‘could have been better’, and 10.6% rated
learner. This presumably means that it is not
their organisation only placed ‘some importance’ on
it as ‘completely irrelevant and boring’. Interestingly,
developing the skills or knowledge it has been
training; whilst 21% thought their organisation placed
12.2% said they had received no training at all in the
designed to, it is wasting employees’ time, and is
‘no importance’ on training at all. Less than one third
last 12 months (see figure 3).
consuming training budget that would, arguably, be
(27.8%) said that their organisation placed ‘great
better spent elsewhere.
importance’ on training and learning. It would appear
Whilst it is reassuring that almost half of employees highly rated the training they had received, the fact
The HR community frequently talk about how the
that 43.5% were less than complimentary about their
success of the organisation relies on the continual
training should give some cause for concern.
skills development of their employees. So, given this,
from this that there are some organisations which need to improve the perceptions amongst their employees as to the value the organisation places on developing their skills.
The apparent lack of importance attributed to training
What has been your experience of training received in your current job? (figure 3)
may be due, in part, to the fact that in some Training? What training?
12.2 %
Really boring
4.8 %
Completely irrelevant
5.8 %
OK – but could have been better
30.6 %
organisations, training still isn’t given the emphasis it should. Indeed, when asked whether they were allocated any specific time to learn, only a quarter (25.9%) said that they were. Consequently, it’s not surprising to find that 41% of employees said that they simply didn’t have time to learn.
Good, I got something out of it
36.4 %
Brilliant – very relevant, useful & informative
10.2 %
One of the potential consequences of this is that some employees are carrying out tasks for which they are
SkillSoft Benchmark Study – The Future of Learning | 11
ill-equipped. Almost two thirds of employees (64.1%)
Tasks relating to... (figure 4)
said they had been asked to carry out tasks in areas where they felt insufficiently trained or where they
Compliance issues
9.5 %
Health and safety issues
11.9 %
Problem solving skills
12.1 %
Customer service skills
11.9 %
Technical skills
27.3 %
Communication skills
9.0 %
Business skills
13.4 %
Desktop skills
16.1 %
Managing people
16.5 %
Leadership
12.4 %
Team working
9.3 %
Other
1.6 %
were lacking in the necessary skills. These tasks were widespread and included areas like customer service delivery, health and safety, compliance and management skills such as leadership, team working and managing people (see figure 4 for a full list).
“Across HBOS we have a common system of performance management and identification of development, so this ensures that all colleagues across HBOS are receiving the same attention to their learning and development needs. The media for addressing those needs may well differ between different areas of the organisation but every colleague is assessed in the same way.” Barry Hughes, HBOS * Respondents were allowed to select more than one option
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The critical role of managers One of the most consistent findings to emerge from this research is the increasingly critical role that line managers are playing in the skills development of those who work for them. In the employer group, the
defining the training requirements of their teams;
ensuring that the line managers in their organisation
in others they are encouraged to promote a learning
are committed to the development of their staff. They
culture; and in many they are responsible for
will be gratified with the findings, which showed that
measuring the effectiveness of any training that has
62.8% of the employees surveyed said that they were
taken place.
encouraged to develop their skills by their boss.
role of the manager was seen as key for a number of
None of this will come as a surprise to those HR
reasons. In some organisations they are responsible for
professionals who have spent time and energy
And there is no decline in terms of management encouragement amongst the more senior levels either; 68.2% of managers say their boss is supportive of their development. Even more satisfying for the HR community is that 77.5% said that they were actively encouraged to share their skills and experiences with others. Clearly, this kind of knowledge sharing is a widespread practice in many companies and there is a great deal of recognition of its value in growing skills.
“We talk about something called shadow of the leader – it’s not just about having
The importance of the line manager is never more
good training so that people know exactly what they have to do and how they have to
critical than when they have control over deciding
do it; it’s also about our managers and our leaders reinforcing and encouraging that behaviour and ensuring good habits and good practices within the business as well as modelling the right sort of behaviours.” Andrew Wright, GSK
who can participate in the training available. And, once again, the managers score highly. A large majority (84.6%) of employees said they found it easy to get approval for training from their manager if required. This was fairly consistent across all job levels. Giving managers this responsibility is something that
SkillSoft Benchmark Study – The Future of Learning | 13
Employee productivity
confident in my job.” Usually, the outcome of training is measured in the development of job related
“We encourage them to talk to their managers and make sure that their learning needs are addressing the ones they get their manager’s support from. Because obviously they’re going to get more time in work and they’re going to get more encouragement.”
As part of this study we wanted to assess whether
knowledge. Personal benefits, such as an increase in
employees felt they received sufficient training to do
confidence, are either overlooked or forgotten. What
their job effectively or whether there was a gap in their
was particularly interesting was that the managers and
skills development. At first, the results appeared
the senior managers were in line with the total sample
reassuring. 62.3% felt they had received enough
as a whole in feeling that additional training would
training to do their job effectively. But when asked
make them more confident. In both cases, just over
whether they could do a better job if they received more training, 65.9% said yes. Arguably, this is not surprising – there will always be a number of employees who feel they need additional training. However, the percentage that responded in the affirmative to this question should give pause for thought. Those employees who said that more training would
Roy Prescott, Pilkington Group
make a difference to them were then questioned as to what benefits they felt additional training would
most of the HR professionals we interviewed had very
bring. In this instance they were allowed to cite as
definite views on. There was a consensus of opinion
many benefits as they thought would be applicable.
that involving managers in the training decisions was
Unexpectedly, top of the list, with 57.8% of employees
beneficial for all concerned.
citing it as the main benefit, was “being more
“Managers are critical in spotting talent as well as being absolutely critical in developing skills. If you do anything without management involvement and accountability it is likely to disappoint.” Charles Jennings, Reuters
“In terms of e-learning we like to involve a line manager so that managers value it and give employees the time to do it.” Jeanette McMullen, T-Mobile
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half (56.9% and 56.6% respectively) cited an increase
1. Being able to get at information as and when
Focusing on the learner
I need it.
in confidence as a key benefit (see figure 5). Not so surprisingly, the second most cited benefit was ‘being
As part of this study, we were particularly interested
more competent’ which was mentioned by 40.7%.
to establish how learners would prefer to learn and if
45.3% said more training would make them a ‘better
there was a correlation between their preferences
asset to the company’; 33.9% said it would enable
and how organisations are planning their learning
them to ‘use their time more effectively’; and 32.4%
programmes in the future. The top five preferences
said they ‘would be more productive’.
of the learners were:
2. Being in charge of my own learning pace. 3. Attending classroom courses. 4. Learning in bite-sized pieces. 5. Learning at my desktop. These preferences would suggest a strong desire by
Which of the following do you think might apply to you if you were given more training? (figure 5) I would be able to enjoy a better work/life balance
23.4 %
the majority of employees to be in charge of their own learning, getting information as and when they need it, wherever they happen to be. The HR
I would be less stressed because I would be more effective
26.3 %
I would be a bigger asset to the company
40.7 %
executives that participated in the survey are fully aware of this trend and, without exception, agree that the learning needs of their employees, and how
I would have a better chance of promotion
27.7 %
I would be able to use my time more effectively
33.9 %
they like to learn, are critical. In all of the organisations that participated in this survey, there were a variety of programmes and plans in place to
I would feel more confident
57.8 %
ensure that these requirements were being met.
I would be more competent
45.3 %
Examples included the provision of on-line training
I would be more productive
32.4 %
that could be done in bite-size pieces; enabling access of learning resources at home; increasing
* Respondents were allowed to select more than one option
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availability of on-line books and referenceware; more support for just-in-time training; having blended solutions that allow employees to pick and mix; and offering specific facilities in the workplace that could be used before or after working hours. Having some, or all, of these options available to
“Anything that gets the learning more focused, so you’re getting exactly what you need
employees is indicative of the shift in emphasis away
when you need it is going to be the way forward. That could be self-managed learning,
from ‘corporate push’ towards ‘learner pull’ and in
it could be the Internet, and it could be the use of things like blogs and sharing
particular to ‘self-directed’ learning. This trend
information. In fact anything that’s going to get relevant information out to people.”
towards self-directed learning appears to be moving training in the direction of what is typically
Andy Cross, Virgin Atlantic
known as informal learning and, as a result, the boundaries between the two are becoming increasingly blurred.
The trend towards autonomy
As a result, there is a definite shift towards giving employees a choice in the learning they undertake.
In some of the more sophisticated organisations,
In addition to empowering managers to approve
This trend has been accelerated by e-learning, which by
there is evidence that there are initiatives in place to
training and to facilitate the trend towards self-directed
its nature lends itself to self-directed learning. In our
‘formalise’ some of the informal learning, bringing
learning, many of the organisations that participated in
survey a quarter (24.2%) said that they were allowed
the concept, if not most of the practice, into the
this study were also moving towards giving employees
to make their own decisions about what training they
sphere of the training function. This effectively
autonomy to manage their own development. There
do; whilst almost one half (46.2%) said they were
harnesses the immense value that informal learning
was a tacit understanding amongst the HR professionals
allowed to make their own decisions sometimes.
brings and ensures that it has the widest reach
we spoke to that having a level of autonomy is
Less than a third (29.6%) said they had no autonomy
possible.
inevitably high on the wish list of most employees.
at all when it came to choosing their training.
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The Future Vision The employees had a very clear vision of what they thought the future would hold for them in terms of their learning. In the survey they were given an extensive list of training delivery methods and asked to indicate which methods they expected to be using in the years ahead (in other words, they could tick all options they thought would apply.)
“There’s still a big need out there for small snapshots of learning… we need more video, more interaction, screen shots and camera shots showing people how to do
From this, there was a clear consensus on the
something. Bite-sized chunks and lots more ‘how to’ pieces.”
emerging prevalence of on-line learning in one form or another. Learning at the desk scored the most
Colin Dibben, LloydsTSB
highly with 38.1% of employees anticipating that this would be one of the main ways by which they
pervasiveness of this perceived trend amongst some
organisations, new ways of delivering knowledge
learning and development professionals.
such as podcasts and webcasts are already in place.
would happen ‘wherever I am’. Over one third
The employers’ vision of the future of learning was
Traditional instructor led training doesn’t have a large
(34.4%) say they expect to be learning ‘wherever I
not dissimilar to the employees’ view. The HR
presence in the future according to those employees
am via my laptop or computer’; 6.3% expect to be
executives who were interviewed as part of this
surveyed. Indeed, only 16.2% expected to be
learning ‘wherever I am via a virtual classroom’;
survey were all clear that there would be a continued
learning in a traditional classroom environment at an
and the same percentage expect to be learning from
shift towards on-line learning and that self-directed
off-site location and only 33.4% expected classroom
podcasts and /or webcasts via their MP3 player.
learning, as already indicated, would continue. There
courses in the workplace to continue. Despite the
Interestingly, less than 2% (1.8%) expect
was also a widespread belief amongst this group
growth in on-line learning, there is a perception that
to be learning via computer games, despite the
that they were ready for the future and in some
for some areas, there is still a need for classroom
would get the training they needed. There was also an unequivocal view that training and learning
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instruction. As a consequence, the learning and
e-learning now find themselves having to take into
development team in many organisations is actively
account considerably more learning options.
engaged in developing blended learning programmes. The difference now, though, is that these programmes are becoming increasingly sophisticated. Those organisations who previously concentrated on blending classroom training with
And this brings its own challenges. Many of those interviewed acknowledged that in the short term, and possibly in the medium term, their focus would be on making all the training assets they have work harder for them.
“We want to have a place on With the early adopters in particular, all the wrinkles in
”We very much leave it to the
their e-learning programmes have been ironed out.
individual to decide the
This allows them to concentrate on optimising its
course that their learning
impact and effectiveness and blending it with other
path is going to take. We
learning methods to more closely match the needs of
devolve all responsibility for training, or at
“We don’t make any restrictions with e-learning – they can study anything they like. The only stipulation we make is that if it’s in work time, any time spent training has to be relevant to their job.” Charles Abbott, BDO Stoy Hayward
everything they need. Within that we’re going to have blogs and wikis so we’re going to use technology in a far more, open flexible way.”
the learner.
least seeking out the training, to the individual themselves.
everyone’s PC where they go to get
In return for making such a wide range of training available and matching it to the needs of the learner, many of the employers expect to see a certain level of commitment from the employee. As self-directed learning grows, the responsibility for developing skills and knowledge will lie more with the employee than before. Consequently, lack of commitment from the employee therefore is unlikely to be widely tolerated.
Andy Cross, Virgin Atlantic
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Conclusion In conducting this research, there was one dominant theme which ran through the findings of both surveys. In some instances it was implicit, in others it was more obvious. Put simply it was this: the future of learning is closer than you think – in fact, the future of learning is here now. The visionaries, the early adopters and those professionals in learning
“We have conventional class room training and we have a number of blended learning
who are passionate about what they do have
programmes but we also give people access to e-learning. For me, it’s not about
embraced all that the future has to offer and are
bringing in an army of external trainers, and it’s not about having an army of internal
developing training programmes that are
trainers, it’s about making everyone part of the learning agenda. I believe we should
outstanding in the value they add.
let everyone buy into it and play a part – and in the training and development function, our job is to facilitate that happening.”
As an HR community, if we want to effectively and efficiently develop our people we have to ensure that
Ian Shaw, Nestlé Purina
we optimise the resources and the information available to us. Furthermore, in today’s competitive marketplace, it’s clear that not only do existing and
responsible for the learning and development needs
programme is easier said than done. And
prospective employees want to be learning via the
of their employees should take a long, hard look at
implementing new technologies can present
latest technology, they expect to be able to – indeed
how their training is deployed and consider whether
challenges to all involved. But just because these
they will demand it.
it is being used to best effect.
things are difficult certainly doesn’t mean they can
Being timid when it comes to maximising the
As we know, conveying a message that training is
training assets of your organisation is not an option.
important requires considerable time and effort.
In conducting this research, there were many
What this research suggests is that anyone
Building a sophisticated blended learning
examples of innovative ways in which some of the
be dismissed.
SkillSoft Benchmark Study – The Future of Learning | 19
HR professionals we interviewed were delivering
best practice within other organisations. And if you
So, if you haven’t already done so, embrace all that
training programmes.
are challenged by budget issues, remember that
technology has to offer, demonstrate the immense
an investment in learning technology can not only
value that learning and development can bring, and
save your organisation money, but can train more
make a significant difference to the skills base of your
people, in greater depth, across more locations than
business. Now is the time to seize the initiative and
can ever be possible using traditional training
take your organisation’s training to a whole new
methods.
level of business impact.
We spoke to some truly creative and imaginative people with the passion and the will to make a difference, who have already embraced blogs, wikis, podcasts and all the other options that current technology has to offer. Through being bold, tackling the challenges they face head on, and with diligent planning and effort, they have developed and implemented training programmes that are reaping significant and tangible benefits for the organisations in which they work. The lesson to be learned here is that if you aren’t using ALL the resources available to you, and using them productively – with a clear understanding of how they are meeting the needs of your learners – then the potential gain to your organisation will be severely curbed. If you are limited by resources, draw upon those you trust in your supplier base. If you are restricted by the creativity of those around you, look for ideas and
“At Reuters one of the main tenents of our strategy is to effectively deliver the right knowledge and capability to the key points of need, using the most effective means, i.e. making sure people get what they need when they need it – using the right channels.” Charles Jennings, Reuters